Tolkien retired, or as he put it, was "extruded" due to the age limit at the end of last term. He called it a melancholy proceeding, especially financially. Things would be meagre without the assistance of "Hobbits and all that". Encouraged by Mitchison's letter he decided to resign from his appointment as an examiner for the National University of Ireland and turn back to the matter of the Red Book and allied histories.